Stockon in grip of ... heat wave?

Stockton's grueling heat wave sizzled on this week with record temperatures of 105, forcing cricket teams to take frequent water breaks, and driving many to Nobby's Beach.

Michael Fitzgerald

Stockton's grueling heat wave sizzled on this week with record temperatures of 105, forcing cricket teams to take frequent water breaks, and driving many to Nobby's Beach.

Not Stockton, California.

Stockton, Australia.

At 7,442 miles away, Stockton, Australia, is possibly the most distant of the world's 36 or so Stocktons.

Funny thing. The two Stocktons are experiencing opposite weather extremes.

Our Stockton is in the middle of a prolonged winter cold snap. But in the southern hemisphere, it is summer. Tardy monsoons have left Australia in the grip of the longest, hottest heat wave ever recorded down under.

The whole continent is baking in temperatures that have topped 118 degrees.

Stockton, Australia, has it comparatively good. A working-class small-town suburb of Newcastle, an industrial city on Australia's east seacoast, the (pop. 4,200) bedroom community is uniquely situated on a peninsula across a bay from the main city.

Surrounded by river on two sides and ocean on a third, it is 10 degrees cooler than elsewhere.

"Cooler" is relative. The mean high in Stockton, Australia, is 71 degrees. So 105 there is roughly like 105 in San Francisco. And weeks of 105, well ...

"Not real good," said Tony Caponecchia. "It's too hot, obviously."

I hung around work late one night (Australia is -19 hours) and called Caponecchia, whose number I found on the website of Stockton and Northern Districts Cricket Club (est. 1888).

A plumber by trade, Caponecchia, 49, said it's the middle of cricket season. But games must be stopped often for cool-down breaks, owing to sticky wickets and stickier batsmen.

"Anyhow, our competition would probably say it's one of the best to play because of its proximity to the beach," he said.

West winds are blowing hot air from inland, where brush fires are raging, but, "Usually it's ocean breezes like a nor'easter. That's quite cooling."

Caponecchia is a proud Stocktonian.

"I've lived there all my life," Caponecchia said (actually he said "all me life"). I was born there. We're a little bit isolated because we're on a peninsula. You sort of know the people a lot more, sort of personally. Rather than just walking past them in the street."

The peninsula, hence the town, is only about 12 blocks wide at its widest. Stockton boasts a couple hotels, three pubs and a grade school. High school students, like many Stockton commuters, catch a ferry a half-mile across the bay to Newcastle.

Once a year, hearty residents swim that stretch for a charity fundraiser. Across that same water, coal ships come and go from Newcastle harbor, loading coal for Japan or China.

On its ocean side, Stockton boasts one of the world's longest beaches, 20 miles long. It's popular with surfers. Caponecchia surfs occasionally.

"There's a lot of sharks. We're talking every type you get. But there's a lot fish for them to eat. So we haven't had any shark attacks on our beach for a long time."

The beach has unique touches: occasional Eastern grey kangaroos; anti-tank obstacles planted during World War II when Australia feared Japanese invasion; shipwrecks, some partly above water. Surfers cut around the rusted hulk of the MV Sygna.

The environment also comprises wetlands and Stockton Sand Dunes, 100-foot-high sand constantly moving and reforming into new shapes.

Also on the beach is Tin City, a tin shantytown. You see it in several scenes of the movie "Mad Max."

In August 2011, a chemical plant on nearby Kooragang Island leaked a huge cloud of toxic hexavalent chromium over Stockton, sickening residents.

When the company stonewalled, Erin Brockovich joined the fight to hold it accountable.

Stockton traces its roots to 1797, when a group of escaped convicts stole a ship. A British Navy ship in pursuit stumbled into Newcastle Harbor.

The heat wave is expected to finally break this weekend. Caponecchia is looking forward to cooler cricket. If not, he has a venerable Stockton heat wave strategy.